Gobabis Gymnasium hosts its annual NASP shoot

Gobabis Gymnasium hosted its annual National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) shoot in conjunction with the NLA braai competition in Gobabis this past weekend.

Altogether there were a total of 88 junior and senior archers that took part in the competition, secretary of the NASP Karola Woortman said.

“It was a memorable occasion where this fantastic and fast growing sport was showcased to the general public. Each archer shot three bulls-eye flights on the ringed NASP 80 centimeter paper face target and one animal round on three dimensional lifelike compound rubber animal targets. The bull’s-eye round is shot on 10 and 15 meter distances respectively, but this must not mislead those unfamiliar with the sport to think that it is easy,” she said.

She added that the bow does not have a sight and a high score depends on hours of practice and the development of natural archery skills.

Woortman also said that the animal round is even more difficult as the animals are put on six different distances and archers need to instinctively adapt their aiming reference with each distance.

“The animal round especially drew a lot of interest from the spectators of the farming and hunting community in the East. The day was wrapped up with a prize giving ceremony in the main tent. With the home ground advantage, Gobabis Gymnasium took the majority podium positions with 15 out of the 36 going to Gobabis,” she said.

She added that as usual, the senior boy’s category was the most closely contested with only 7 points separating the senior boys champion and the second runner up.

Namibia is sending a team of 16 archers to the All Nations All Stars Championship in Alberta, Canada in July 2018. This team will compete against the United States of America, Canada and South Africa.